MS. Douce 49

Summary Catalogue no.: 21623

Portable Psalter; French Flanders, Diocese of Thérouanne, region of St-Omer (?); c. 1270–1290

Fols. i and 1–3 are fly-leaves with added notes (see ‘Provenance’).

[item 1 occupies quire I]

1. (fols. 4r–9v)

Calendar, written in red and black, laid out one month per page, approximately one-third full, not graded. Includes saints venerated in the diocese of Thérouanne, such as Audomar (9 September) and Maximus, bishop of Riez (27 November), both in red, Bertin (5 September) and Winnoc (6 November). Other saints in red are Vincent of Saragossa (22 January), Basil (14 June), Lawrence (10 August) with octave, Egidius (1 September), Remigius, Germanus and Bavo of Ghent (1 October), Vedast (6 February and 1 October), Denis (9 October), Martin (11 November) with octave and his translation (4 July), Bricius of Tours (13 November), Clement of Metz (23 November), Catherine (25 November), Nicholas (6 December) and his translation (9 May), Stephen (26 December) and Thomas Becket (29 December). The calendar also includes Amand (6 February), Lambert, bishop of Liège (17 September), Francis (4 October), Donatianus (14 October) and Eligius (1 December). The months are headed by notes on the length of the solar and lunar month (e.g. ‘Januarius habet dies xxxi. luna xxx’) and by verses on the ‘Egyptian’ days, different from all the sets published by Hennig (1955), but close to his sets I and III. Hebrew names of the months in Latin transliteration are added in the top margin in a 16thcentury hand, including ‘TISRI . HIC INCIPIVNT ANNVM HAEBREI .’ on the page for September.

[items 2–6 occupy quires II–XXIII]

(fols. ii recto–clxxxv recto) Psalms 1–150, written with each verse starting on a new line, without titles. The leaf which originally contained the Beatus-initial is missing, so that the first psalm begins with ‘Qui non abiit ...’. There is an offset of an illuminated border and the opening words of psalm 1 in capitals (‘...ATVS VIR’) (fol. ii recto). The psalms are in the biblical order; subdivisions within psalms are not indicated, apart from psalm 118, subdivided into twenty-two 8-verse units. Punctuated throughout, with punctus used to mark the ends of verses, and occasionally punctus elevatus used to mark metrum. There are textual divisions at psalms 26, 38, 51, 52, 68, 80, 97, 101 and 109 (see ‘Decoration’). Psalm numbers in Roman numerals are added in a 16th-century hand (pink ink). The same hand wrote the running titles in the upper margin to indicate the subdivision of psalms into five books in Jewish usage, and added short rubrics at the beginning of psalms, referring to their ‘authorship’ and use (e.g. ‘david’, ‘asaph’, ‘canticum graduum’, ‘aggei et zacharie’, ‘oratio’, etc.). The letters of the Hebrew alphabet added in black ink at the beginning of sections of psalm 118 (fol. cli verso) are probably in the same hand, as well as the names of some of the letters in Latin transliteration (e.g. ‘aleph’, ‘beth’, etc.) and their translation into Latin (e.g. ‘doctrina’, ‘domus’, etc.). ‘Alleluya’ is written in Greek in the margin at the beginning of psalm 118. There are post-medieval corrections to the text of psalms on fols. lxxiii verso, lxxiiii recto, lxxxvii recto, lxxxv verso, clv verso, clxxiiii recto, clxxxv verso, etc. The numbers of psalms that have historiated initials are added in pencil by Douce (see ‘Provenance’).

(fols. clxxxv recto–clxxxxv recto) Weekly canticles, with numbers i–vi and titles added in a 16th-century hand:

(1) Confitebor tibi domine (Isaiah 12) (‘Cantica Esaie’);
(2) Ego dixi (Isaiah 38: 10–21) (‘Cantica Ezechiae’);
(3) Exultauit cor meum (1 Samuel 2: 1–11) (‘Cantica Anne’);
(4) Cantemus domino (Exodus 15: 1–20) (‘Cantica Moysi’);
(5) Domine audiui (Habakkuk 3) (‘Cantica Abacuch’);
(6) Audite celi (Deuteronomy 32: 1–44) (‘Moysi’).

(fols. clxxxxv recto–ccii recto) Daily canticles, prayers and creeds, with numbers vii–xii and titles added in a 16th-century hand:

(1) Te deum laudamus (‘Augustini Ambrosii’) (fol. clxxxxv recto);
(2) Benedicite omnia opera (‘Trium puerorum’) (fol. clxxxxvi verso);
(3) Benedictus dominus deus (‘Zacharie’) (fol. clxxxxvii verso);
(4) Magnificat (‘Cantica dive˛ virginis Marie’) (fol. clxxxxviii verso);
(5) Nunc dimittis (‘Simeonis’) (fol. clxxxxix recto);
(6) Athanasian Creed (Quicumque uult ...) (‘Symbolum Athanasii’) (fol. clxxxxix verso).

(fols. ccii recto–ccvi recto) Litany, including Martin, Remigius, Vedast, Amand, Bavo, Benedict, Medard, Gildard and Maximus last among the confessors. The litany is followed by versicles and responses, and collects (fols. cciv verso–ccvi recto); the last two are to Sts Catherine and Nicholas (compare MS. Douce 38):

(1) Deus cui proprium est misereri semper et parcere suscipe ...
(2) Deus cui omne cor patet et omnis uoluntas loquitur et quem nullum latet secretum ...
(3) Deus a quo sancta desideria recta consilia et iusta sunt ...
(4) Concede nos famulos tuos quesumus domine deus noster perpetua mentis et corporis ...
(5) Fidelium deus omnium conditor et redemptor animabus famulorum famularumque tuarum remissionem ...
(6) Deus qui dedisti legem moysi in summitate montis ...
(7) Deus qui beatum nicholaum pontificem tuum in numeris decorasti miraculi ...

More collects and other texts may have been included originally, as two leaves are missing after fol. ccv. The collect ‘Fidelium deus ...’ ends with ‘Amen’ at the end of fol. ccv verso and is followed by versicles and responses on fol. ccvi.

(fols. ccvi verso–ccxiiii verso) Office of the Dead, beginning without a title or capital letter; responsories correspond to nos. 83, 25, 1, 38, 58, 29, 93, 82, 38 in Ottosen (1993). The Office is followed on fols. ccxiii verso–ccxiiii verso by collects without titles:

(1) Adiuua nos domine deus noster et beatissime dei genetricis marie precibus ...
(2) Deus indulgentiarum da animabus famulorum tuorum N. refrigerii sedem quietis beatitudinem eterni luminis claritatem
(3) Deus in cuius miseratione anime fidelium requiescunt famulis et famulabus tuis ...
(4) Actiones nostras quesumus domine aspirando preueni ...
(5) Deus qui nos patrem et matrem honorare precepisti miserere clementer animabus ...
(6) Inclina domine aurem tuam ad preces nostras quibus misericordiam tuam supplices ...

The last collect has feminine grammatical forms (‘anime famule tue’, fol. ccxiiii verso). Fols. ccxv–ccxix are blank apart from Douce’s notes (see ‘Provenance’).

Language(s): Latin

16th-century additions in Hebrew: see Provenance.

Language(s): Hebrew

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: reditatem tuam et possessionem (psalter, fol. iii recto)

Form: codex

Support: parchment; paper fly-leaves

Extent: 228 leaves

Dimensions (leaf): c. 136 × 93 mm.

Leaves were trimmed in rebinding, occasionally causing the loss of text and decoration.

Foliation: Modern, in pencil and 16th-century in red ink; 1–9 + i–ccxix. The 16thcentury foliation begins with ii on the leaf containing the imperfect beginning of the first psalm, suggesting that the page with the Beatus-initial was still present when the manuscript was foliated. Modern folio numbers i and ccxvi–ccxix were added in pencil before the start and after the end of the 16th-century foliation.

Collation

(fols. 1–2) fol. 1 is a paper fly-leaf, conjoint with the upper pastedown; fol. 2 is a paper fly-leaf | (fols. 3–i) I (6+2) the outer bifolium (fols. 3 and i) is made from a different, much more speckled parchment than the rest of the manuscript (the same as fol. ccxvi, an empty fly-leaf at the end of the manuscript) and may have been added by the 16th-century owner; the missing Beatus-initial page was probably a single leaf | (fols. ii–li) II–VI (10) | (fols. lii–lxii) VII (12−1) missing 2 (stub remains after fol. lii, but no loss of text) | (fols. lxiii–ccii) VIII–XXI (10) | (fols. cciii–ccviii) XXII (8−2) missing 4 and 5 (two stubs in the middle of the quire, but no loss of text) | (fols. ccix–ccxv) XXIII (8−1) missing 8 (?), no loss of text | (fols. ccxvi–ccxix) fol. ccxvi is an added parchment fly-leaf; fols. ccxvii–ccxviii are paper fly-leaves; fol. ccxix is a paper fly-leaf conjoint with the lower pastedown

Layout

Ruled in plummet, with double vertical and horizontal bounding lines, extending the full height and width of page; the ruling for lines 9–10, occupying the centre of the page, also extends the full width of page; 18 lines per page; written above the top line (see Oliver, 1985, p. 139, n. 27 and compare MS. Liturg. 396 and MS. Auct. D. 4. 3); written space: variable, c. 85 × 49 mm.

Hand(s)

Formal Gothic book hand, black ink.

Decoration

Gold KL monograms on blue and pink backgrounds in the calendar (cut out on fol. 5).

Miniatures with the Labours of the Months, on gold backgrounds, in frames pointed at the top, by a different artist from that of the historiated initials in the psalter (Pächt and Alexander, 1966–73): January: man warming one bare foot by the fire, holding his shoe in one hand and drinking out of a bowl (rubbed) February: woman holding a lighted candle and a book March: man digging with a spade April: man holding a glove and branches (?) May: man with a hawk June: man carrying a bundle of wood on his back July: man mowing hay with a scythe August: man reaping grain September: man cutting grapes; a basket with grapes on his back October: man sowing November: man knocking down acorns for pigs December: man baking bread in an oven.

Nine historiated initials in the psalter (the Beatus-page is missing) on gold backgrounds, occupying two-thirds of a page, and borders decorated with grotesques, hybrids and animals. The iconography of the initials is related to other Franco- Flemish psalters of the second half of the 13th century, which have a Christological cycle at the eight divisions, and saints at psalms 51 and 101 (see Carlvant, 1978, pp. 473–4).

fol. xxx verso: Psalm 26 (initial D(ominus)). The Betrayal; Christ healing Malchus’s ear. Hybrid figure with a shield and a sword.
fol. xlviii verso Psalm 38 (initial D(ixi)). Christ before Pilate; dragon forms the tail of Q.
fol. lxiiii verso: Psalm 51 (initial Q(vid)).St Francis preaching to birds, Brother Leo (?) sitting behind him. Grotesque and a crouching dog form the tail of Q.
fol. lxv verso: Psalm 52 (initial D(ixit)). Flagellation. Ape riding a dog.
fol. lxxxii verso: Psalm 68 (initial S(aluum)). Christ carrying the Cross.
fol. ciii recto: Psalm 80 (initial E(xultate)).Crucifixion, with Longinus pointing to his eye, piercing Christ’s side, and Stephaton with the sponge on a reed. Ape with a trumpet.
fol. cxxiii verso: Psalm 97 (initial C(antate)). Descent from the Cross: the Virgin holding Christ’s hand, Joseph of Arimathea supporting his body, and Nicodemus removing the nail from his feet; the sun and moon above.
fol. cxxvi verso: Psalm 101 (initial D(omine)). St Clare of Assisi (?) in a habit tied with a rope with three knots, giving boots to beggars.
fol. cxliiii verso: Psalm 109 (initial D(ixit)) The body of Christ embalmed by three men.

Borders: see above.

3-line gold initials on blue and pink backgrounds, and borders made of gold, blue and pink bars, some ending with animal heads, at the beginnings of psalms, canticles, litany and prayers.

2-line gold and blue initials, decorated with contrasting blue and red penwork at the beginnings of verses and periods.

Line-endings with gold, white, red and blue geometric and floral designs.

Binding

Brown leather (calf (?)) over pasteboard, 18th century. Gilt floral border round the outer edge of both covers. Rebacked in the Bodleian, with the original, fragmentary spine pasted to the lower pastedown. Panels decorated with gilt floral and geometric designs on the original spine. One of the fragmentary panels has gilt lettering: ‘[PSALTE]RIVM || MS. SÆC. XIV’. Discoloration left by a (Bodleian (?)) paper label at the bottom of the spine. Gilt fillet lines on the edges of covers, gilt decorations on turn-ins. Pastedowns and fly-leaves made of blue marbled paper with white floral designs. Gilt edges of textblock with gauffering.

History

Origin: c. 1270–1290 ; Flanders, diocese of Thérouanne, region of St. Omer

Provenance and Acquisition

Probably made for use of the diocese of Thérouanne: evidence of the calendar and litany. Perhaps made for a female patron with Franciscan connections. The final prayer in the original hand has feminine grammatical forms (fol. ccxiiii verso), Francis appears in the calendar and there are Franciscan saints in the initials.

Many 16th-century additions by an owner with an interest in the Jewish usage of psalms. The additions are in majuscules, Hebrew, or a cursive humanist, Italian (?) hand (see fols. lxiii verso–lxiiii recto). The erased text in the lower margins of fols. lx recto and lxii recto, which preserve fragments of reddish ink, was probably by the same hand.

Francis Douce, 1757–1834, see ODNB: bookplate on the upper pastedown, notes on fols. 2r–v and ccxvii recto–verso, his (?) shelfmark (?): ‘B iiij’ in red ink (upper pastedown and fol. 1v, cf. MS. Douce 23, MS. Douce 24, MS. Douce 38).

Bodleian Library: received in 1834 with bequest of Douce.

Record Sources

Elizabeth Solopova, Latin Liturgical Psalters in the Bodleian Library: A Select Catalogue (Oxford, 2013), pp. 341–347. Previously described:

Summary Catalogue, vol. 4, p. 504

Digital Images

Digital Bodleian (26 images from 35mm slides)

Bibliography

Select bibliography to 2009

‘Liturgical manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford’, The Ecclesiologist 3 (1 September 1888), pp. 34–5.

Summary catalogue, vol. 4, no. 21623.

Frere, no. 442.

Vitzthum von Eckstaedt, B. G., Die Pariser Miniaturmalerei von der Zeit des hl. Ludwig bis zu Philipp von Valois und ihr Verhältnis zur Malerei in Nordwesteuropa (Leipzig: Verlag von Quelle & Meyer, 1907), p. 108.

Nordenfalk, C., ‘Insulare und kontinentale Psalterillustrationen aus dem XIII. Jahrhundert’, Acta archaeologica 10 (1939), pp. 107–20.

S. J. P. van Dijk, Latin Liturgical Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, vol. 2: Office Books (typescript, 1957), p. 95

Randall, L. M. C., Images in the margins of Gothic manuscripts (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966), p. 40.

Pächt and Alexander (1966–73), vol. 1, no. 287, pl. XXI.

Carlvant (1978), pp. 443–4, 471–4.

Oliver, J. H., ‘Medieval alphabet soup: reconstruction of a Mosan psalter-hours in Philadelphia and Oxford and the cult of St Catherine’, Gesta 24/2 (1985), pp. 129–40.

Bräm, A., Das Andachtsbuch der Marie de Gavre: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Ms. nouv. acq. fr. 16251. Buchmalerei in der Diözese Cambrai im letzten Viertel des 13. Jahrhunderts (Wiesbaden: L. Reichert, 1997), p. 17.

Gil, M. and Nys, L., Saint-Omer gothique. Les arts figuratifs à Saint-Omer à la fin du Moyen Âge, 1250–1550: peinture, vitrail, sculpture, arts du livre (Valenciennes: Presses Universitaires de Valenciennes, 2004), pp. 65, 69, 76 n. 163.

Bräm, A., ‘“Fratrum minorum mater”. Heiligenbilder als Angleichung und zum Patronat in Frankreich und Flandern und in der Anjou-Hofkunst Neapels’ in D. Blume and M. Werner (eds.), Elisabeth von Thüringen: eine europäische Heilige (Petersberg: Imhof, 2007), pp. 309–24, at p. 312.

Morgan (2009), pp. 64, 66, 68–9.

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

Last Substantive Revision

2024-05: Encode full description from Solopova catalogue.

A catalogue of Western manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries and selected Oxford colleges